Greetings from Kansas City!

As we head out of the winter months and into spring, the 29th Wide Open is fast approaching. This year, the Kansas City Flying Disc Club, in conjunction with many sponsors, is happy to host an elite National Tour Event. The event will play on the same courses that many of you may have played in the 2009 Worlds tournament. The event is going to be a combined Pro/Am event, with the Pro side of the field playing 4 rounds on courses over three days. Those opting for the Amateur side of the event will experience 3 rounds over 2 days.

The Pros will start out on Friday with rounds at Water Works park. The course features challenging elevation and picturesque views of the Missouri and Kaw Rivers and the downtown skyline, and demands attention at every curve for one round. The other course on Friday will be just across the river at Cliff Drive, with a combination of wooded technical shots and some open air distance to challenge all aspects of your talent level.

Moving on to Saturday, where tee-times will play in for the remainder of the weekend, you will be playing at the Blue Valley course that has made friends and foes in its short time. At over 11,000’ of continually changing elevation and fast greens, this demanding course has challenged players for the last decade to test their own ability and prove their mettle.

The final round will be played on Sunday at Swope Park, and you might think that Kansas City's oldest course is a safe bet for an easy finish. Well...don’t be fooled: this course will be expanded into a longer format using alternate tee pads and mind-tingling OB. The tournament layout puts this course into the modern age while preserving the enjoyment, comforts and tranquility that this course has now offered for over three decades. A great day of fun and festivities will follow. We hope to draw nearly 1,000 people to watch the final rounds, as the top touring Pros visit Kansas City yet again. The Pro Field will be limited to 144 players.

The Amateur side of the event will be playing on Saturday and Sunday, and will play on the same courses that the Pro field played on Friday. Water Works and Cliff Drive will be in the mix, along with historic Rosedale Park. With this park, placement is essential, as there bluffs and drop-offs that make errant shots on 13 of the 18 holes a strong possibility of climbing up some big hills. The Ams will be utilizing a shot gun start all weekend long, and will be teeing off earlier on Sunday to give them all a chance to make it out to Swope to catch quite a few of the rounds of the top in the game. This event will also mark the first time that the event is a Trophy-only event for the Amateur side, and the player's packs will be stocked with items that will make everyone glad that they came to the event, along with providing a challenge of competition on the highest level between multiple divisions. The Am Field is limited to 216, so please ensure that you sign up and don’t miss this opportunity.

The event is going to be yet again a fine showing of some of the best disc golf courses in the country. Although there are many disc golf courses that are great across the land, we feel very fortunate that many historic events and moments have came from events in Kansas City. With one of the most central locations to get to across the country, we are confident that this event will be yet another fine example of great players playing a great game. The courses will be prepared and the cameras will be on, as www.discgolfplanet.tv will be showing the event as well. The play will be fierce with competition, yet good times will still be possible with the hospitality that many have came to associate with Kansas City through their own history of events in our town. Be a part of the myth and lore that Kansas City has: come join us for the 29th annual Kansas City Wide Open, and create your own fond memories, or get rid of some old nightmares by extracting revenge on that course again.

To sign up please visit the following:
Snail Mail:
http://www.kcfdc.org/docs/Wide_Open_Registration_2011.pdf
Online:
http://www.pdgasignup.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1300221467

Want to help support the Event:
http://www.kcfdc.org/docs/2011_Wide_Open_Sponsorship_Form.pdf

If you can’t do the event, we simply ask that you be kind enough to spread the word of it. You may also want to sign up and watch it online at:
http://www.discgolfplanet.tv/ We all make this sport great, each one of us needs to be our own ambassador of the sport. Please help spread the word of disc golf to all that you can!

Thanks for reading; you make the sport what it is today, you help make it better by working at letting people know about it!

Up-to-date local information may be found on our website:
www.kcfdc.org

Kansas City Flying Disc Club
-TD Jack Lowe

Jack
I have been looking to get to KC and play some of the incredible
courses. I thought this would be the year unfortunately it will
not be. A crew from Louisville, KY was going to come but nobody
can swing what it takes to play four courses for one tournament.

I wish you all tons of success with your tournament. Looking forward
to the broadcast.

woooohooo, just signed up for some awesome KC WIDE action...cant wait

Another chance to play with the schwebbs in KC. Awesome!

Plan tickets in hand.......see yah then

I have extended the online registration to last until Wednesday June 8 @ midnight. After that point you will have to call me in regards to registration.

We are coming along quite nicely with our preparations of the event, and are planning quite a few great things for everyone to enjoy with the event.

If you should have any questions, please reach out to me directly at 913-485-5123. I am not in front of the computer much, and will be even less over the next 10 days.

I hope that you realize this is one of the best places in the world to play (bias button on!), and a great chance to enjoy some of Kansas City's hospitality yet again.

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you soon here in KC!

The Kansas City Wide Open National Tour Clinic Series presented by the PDGA

Join some of today's top professional disc golfers as they impart disc golf tips and technique to players of all skill levels. The PDGA has funded this great program to provide free instruction to the general public and players of the Kansas City area.

Thursday, June 9th from 4:00-6:00

Water Works Park

Stay and play league at 6:30

Pro Staff:

World Champion, Barry Schultz
World Champion, Sarah Stanhope
Discraft Elite Player, Greg Barsby
Innova Elite Player, Jay Reading

Win some autographed discs via Innova Champion Discs and get a free drawing ticket for a portable basket and bag of discs to be given away at the KCWO finals on Sunday at Swope Park!

C'mon folks, don't let another a PDGA National Tour event come and go with so little fanfare! This has been one of the most prestigious stops on the PDGA tour for decades...having attended Pro/Am Worlds in 2009 I know firsthand just how awesome both the courses and the town are...it's one of the very few places I've been to for a disc golf tournament where I actually said to myself "I could see myself living here someday."

Let's hear about hanging out in the Power & Light District, the Westport district, driving down the Paseo boulevard with its Beaux-Arts-style structures & architecture, etc. C'mon, does life get any better than a round at Cliff Drive, driving down the Paseo, and then turning off to go have a cold craft brew and a burger at the Flying Saucer (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/kansascity/), where there are disc golf discs and Frisbees all over the ceiling?!?

Let's hear from you!!!

hmm ware is the PDGA marketing at??

hmm ware is the PDGA marketing at??

Well there was a Kansas City Wide Open Preview article (http://www.pdga.com/2011-kansas-city-wide-open-preview) on the homepage and there will be a DiscGolfPlanet.tv live broadcast (http://www.pdga.com/2011-kcwo-live-broadcast), but I'd like to see comments from players and locals about the event. Something is definitely lacking when a PDGA National Tour Event comes and goes and there are 12 posts in a thread (http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=35557) and 8 of them were from the TD.

TD Jack Lowe and the Kansas City Flying Disc Club, in conjunction with many sponsors, have been busting their rumps to put together this shindig and generate a buzz, and I don't want to see it go to waste!

found it 11 central for live broadcast

This DiscGolfPlanet.tv live broadcast (http://www.discgolfplanet.tv/2011/KCWO/) is simply phenomenal! It looks like there are quite a number of Facebook users logged in and posting; it's too bad that some of these folks don't also post on the PDGA DISCussion Board. As was discussed in the BHMO thread (http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=35557), although Facebook is great and all, it's a shame that everything seems to run through it nowadays.

It looks like the coverage is showing primarily holes#1,10-13, & 17-18. Of these, holes #12 and #17 are my favorites as they play as perfect pro par four holes; #12 is 533 ft. but severely uphill - it's surely about a 40ft. gain in elevation from tee to polehole so the hole plays much longer, especially when into the wind. Hole#17 is 739 feet long, downhill on the drive, and uphill on the approach, but two strong rips can get a player into putting range for the birdie 3. What's really cool about this hole though is a prominent burn in the middle and at about 400-425' in length which may force the really big arms on the Open cards to choose whether they will lay up short, or alternatively try to carry the depression on their drives.

As much as I love the Blue Valley course - it's one of the top 25 I've played lifetime out of 200+ courses across the United States and Canada - hole#10 bothers me as perfect example of a hole in the dreaded 'tweener' range where there's very little if any scoring separation for golfers. Hole#10 is 449 feet and uphill, and players even at this high level of disc golf play aren't going to reach this hole for a possible deuce and are almost always left with short par putts for a 3. And unless players make a gaffe, they're not likely to take a 4. So what you surely end up with is card after card where everyone in the foursome takes a score of 3, and that makes little sense to me from a competition standpoint. At least what I saw on camera, which was a couple of Masters & Women groups and several of the top Open cards, I saw only one deuce, and I only saw scores of bogey 4 from a few of the ladies. Nate Doss had an uphill 50-footer for birdie, but when the best golfers in the world and some of the longest throwers playing in a PDGA National Tour event aren't scoring more birdies, to me that's a good indication that the hole is the wrong length. I think that with just a little adjustment of either the tee location, the basket location, (or both) there's a hole out in that general area which could make for a nice balance of 2s, 3s, and 4s, which is what you want to see a good golf hole do.

where are barry and cale?

No idea on Cale....or his buddy that called to get in, yet didnt call to to let me know he wasnt coming......Barry I knew about, so I am ok with that.....anyway, its a hot day in KC, and it was tough on the field for sure. shooting in the 50's well......its great golf.

Here is the payout for the proside. Would have like to added more cash, but the turnout on the am side hurt the overall cost of the event for us here. Good lessons learned for next year on the 30th.

Tomorrow at Swope should be absolutley great golf!
Watch it live folks, and thanks for paying attention to KC disc golf again!

Jack


Pro ($10,000)
$1,650 -1
$1,180-2
$890-3
$760-4
$640-5
$540-6
$490-7
$450-8
$410-9
$370-10
$340-11
$310-12
$290-13
$270-14
$260-15
$250-16
$240-17
$230-18
$220-19
$210-20

Women ($2250)
$675-1
$475-2
$340-3
$250-4
$215-5
$170-6
$135-7

Masters ($3,000)
$840 -1
$570-2
$435-3
$345-4
$270-5
$210-6
$180-7
$150-8


GrandMasters ($1,375)
$565 -1
$360-2
$260-3
$195-4




Total Purse $16,500

Heres a question. I didnt get to watch the live footage so Im not sure about it but, On the live scoring scorecard it has Nikkos score as a 56 incorrectly added to 59. On the results page it lists Nate as having a 56, while Nikko is listed as shooting a 59. Did Nikko and Nates names get switched on the Live scoring, or is really Nikko tied with Avery for the lead?

holes #12 and #17 are my favorites as they play as perfect pro par four holes; #12 is 533 ft. but severely uphill - it's surely about a 40ft. gain in elevation from tee to polehole so the hole plays much longer, especially when into the wind. Hole#17 is 739 feet long, downhill on the drive, and uphill on the approach, but two strong rips can get a player into putting range for the birdie 3. What's really cool about this hole though is a prominent burn in the middle and at about 400-425' in length which may force the really big arms on the Open cards to choose whether they will lay up short, or alternatively try to carry the depression on their drives.




Hole 12 was listed as a par 3 on live scoring and from watching it online, looks like a standard boring par 3.5.

This hole clearly is a par 4, but with pretty much everyone I saw play the hole record a 3, just a very boring hole.

To me, hole 16 looked like a great hole. I saw 3 groups play it and saw 2's and 3's from each group. Holes like this are waaaay better than these awful boring holes like hole 10 and hole 12.

I agree 100% about 17. A great golf hole thanks for huge score and skill separation.

To me, hole 16 looked like a great hole. I saw 3 groups play it and saw 2's and 3's from each group.

What's really interesting is that they shortened hole#16 - it used to be another 125 ft. or so up the hill and at 440 ft. in length with a 40 ft. rise, was the textbook definition of a boring par 3.5 tweener (http://playdg.com/courses/?s=MO&c=bluevalley&h=16). Except for the big tree in the middle, it played very, very similarly to hole#12. They even mentioned on the broadcast that they shortened it in order to get more birdies, so it appears that at least someone got the memo about scoring separation and proper hole distances. It was really interesting seeing the strategies on hole#16...some guys threw rollers, others threw backhands, some threw sidearms, etc. and the top two cards yesterday had just about and an even mix of birdies and pars. This is what a good golf hole is supposed to do.

It's too bad that the broadcast is down today...I watched nearly the whole thing yesterday and the coverage was absolutely stellar. http://www.pdga.com/discussion/images/icons/icon14.gif

Thank you to all that attended the 29th Kansas City Wide Open 2011.

Thank you to all that helped with the planning and the preparation, and the actual event of the Wide Open.

Thank you to all of you that followed the Wide Open either on line with Disc Golf Planet when you could, or via the online scoring method.

There are always a few issues on events of this magnitude, so I thank all of you for the patience with our human nature to make errors.

This event would not have happened, without the support of the following groups and businesses to make the event happen at this level, you need, you MUST have the support of our national community in the Disc Golf World, and locally.
Disc Golf Association
Innova Champion Discs
Gateway Disc Sports
Discraft
Disc Golf World
Dynamic Discs
LSDiscs
Discs Unlimited
Rob Hack
The Neitzel Family
The West Plaza Tomato Company
Neighborhood Tourism and Development Fund
Kansas City Missouri Parks and Recreation
Eagle Products
Tower Tavern
Bishop Sullivan Center
James Mc“Tall Guy”Laughlin
Hal Kurz
Arnold Palmer Tee Company
Twin Lakes Insurance
Jack Lowe
Tracy Walker
University of St. Mary
Paddy O’Quigley’s
Ruskin-Go Green Go Ruskin!
Peter Cashen
Ben Hansen
Kevin Montgomery
All the Palmers
Dan Cashen
Crazy John Brooks
Dick Parker
John Theiss
John Chapman
Van Spratford
Jay Rivard
Gary Harvey (G$)
Mike Penney
Sally Rowden
Becky Stebbins
Ben & Rhonda Crosby
Demian Vela
Mike Keizer
Jim Kreeger
Chris Timko
Lee Killian
Doug Linville
Danny Sounders
Bill Neenan
Mark Stiles
Dan Weinert
Beer League Representatives!
KCMO P&R
Countless Others to make it happen before me, and those that continue to help in the cleanup of the event. Just because the dates are passed, the event still has lingering issues to follow up on!

I again thank all of you for your help and support. We are blessed in Kanas City to have such a great grouping of courses to enjoy as our home. As you think of the times that you have played in Kansas City, be thinking of what you can do to help the 30th. I am currently accepting information, photo's, old archival information of the 30 years of the event. If you have an old trophy, old program you scan, I want to make the next program for the event something that is historically significant for us to enjoy locally, nationally, and international. We have a strong history in KC for events, and next year is already going that way. The way we look at it, we are a few days closer now to the 30th than we were this past weekend!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your energy in disc golf. Please come and enjoy in KC next year. We want to show you why we are the best place in the world to play disc golf at!

Thanks,

Jack

Thanks for organizing what looked to be a wonderful event, Jack.

I watched the online coverage from Blue Valley on Saturday afternoon while my 2-year old was sleeping and it was fantastic! http://www.pdga.com/discussion/images/icons/icon14.gif

It was tiring, and lots of fun. We are already underway with the planning for next year's event. It looks like Am's will probably get 3 days as well next year on the 30th. We will be planning a Trophy only event as well. Hopefully people will realize that we more than just one trophy per division, and that the players pack will be even better next year with the AM side of the event.

Thanks for watching. It is too bad that the camera's need a live feed to store through the arvchial process, all that hard work that the crew from Discgolfplanet.tv did, and then to get hit with technical issues....URGH! Man my heart goes out to them. They were working hard to make it happen, hopefully they will get all the kinks out, and next year we will have it all on coverage. I know its tough for them as well, because we move our players between sooo many courses, but when we have so many courses people want to play, its tough to accomodate everyone's desires!

They will get it though, it will be great in the future, I know it will be! It was fun planning around the broadcast portion of the event. I hadn't had to think about those angles as a TD, it really brings in options and challenges that we don't typically think about! I like that new challenge, and found it to be very invigorating to me personally.